Albany, NY (October 17, 2006) - - - The Albany International Airport will begin “grooving” the Airport’s main runway later this week. “Grooving” is the final step in a two-year Airport safety project that included a 1,300 lineal foot extension to the Airport’s Runway-19, lighting and navigational improvements and a security patrol road. The runway extension was opened to aircraft in August of this year.

The grooving is necessary to ensure aircraft maintain proper runway traction during snow and icy conditions. The grooves also allow rainwater to channel quickly from the 150 foot wide runway surface to enhance breaking power and directional control while reducing the risk of hydroplaning. Each of the 10,400 grooves will be 130 feet long, ¼ inch deep, ¼ inch wide and 1 ½ inches apart.

The grooving operation will be conducted at night to reduce interference with commercial air traffic. Grooving operations will begin at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 19th and Friday, October 20th and continue through each morning.

The grooving process will result in a low, whining sound that may be apparent to some of our neighbors. The Airport Authority intentionally delayed the project until fall when home windows are more likely to be closed, reducing the impact of the noise.

Cardinal International Grooving of Conshohocken Pennsylvania was selected to perform the grooving by the project’s general contractor, J.H. Maloy, Inc. of Loudonville. A pioneer in the field of runway grooving, Cardinal holds 23 worldwide patents in the grooving field. Since 1950, Cardinal has grooved over 750 million square feet of runways, from small, regional airports to the largest runway in the world, the JFK Space Shuttle Landing Facility at Cape Canaveral.